starving?

Options
lkidgell17
lkidgell17 Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
ok, so im just getting started and mfp has me on 1200 cals a day. but i feel like im starving if thats all i eat. is this normal in the beginning? should i start out with a little more cals then that and work down to 1200 or just stay constant at the 1200? im really motivated to lose the weight, so ifi have to fight through the hunger for a bit i totally will. im just wondering if this is a normal thing and what everyone thinks. thanks!
«1

Replies

  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Options
    MFP does not have you on anything. YOU put yourself on 1200 a day by how you set your goals. If you want to eat more than that, you should set a less aggressive goal, such as 1 pound per week instead of 2.
  • JoniBologna
    JoniBologna Posts: 653 Member
    Options
    Yes. Reset your goals to 1lb a week at most. Please, if you are hungry then eat more. I'm up to 1950cals a day, and I am losing!
  • hockeyjen85
    hockeyjen85 Posts: 6
    Options
    Apparently you are suppose to eat back your exercise calories because MFP estimates the calories way too low. I have seen so many people on here that are either starving themselves because they dont know this or that miscalculate their exercise calories too end up eating way over what they should be and wonder why they are not losing fat. I think it makes it more complicated for beginers. I eat between 1600 and 1700 cals and am losing 2-3 lbs a week. MFP originally told me to eat 1200 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I would def up the calories or try to figure out how to track your exercise calories accurately and eat them back.
  • debbiestine
    debbiestine Posts: 265 Member
    Options
    If you are hungry, eat a few hundred more calories. BUT make sure you are eating healthy foods- meats, fish, hard boiled eggs, fruits and veggies, plain yogurt, a little cheese etc. drink water, coffee, tea and maybe 1 diet drink a day if that helps.
    Just don't eat fast food or junk. They have a lot of calories but aren't going to give you the calcium, vitamins, fiber etc that you need. Many overweight people are actually starving their bodies of nutrients. I don't know your situation or what you are eating but that is all I know- it's 80% what you eat and 20% exercise. Google Mark's Daily Apple or the primal blueprint. It's helped me lose and I'm eating more real food than I ever have. Good luck and God speed!
  • NaDellR
    NaDellR Posts: 4
    Options
    Eat more whole grains that will help you feel full and drink plenty of water. It's hard to go down to the 1200 calories after eating much more (like I was), but when you exercise, the program also gives you extra calories.
    If you're really feeling extra hungry, just eat more fruits and vegetables until your body gets used to less calories.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    Options
    Apparently you are suppose to eat back your exercise calories because MFP estimates the calories way too low. I have seen so many people on here that are either starving themselves because they dont know this or that miscalculate their exercise calories too end up eating way over what they should be and wonder why they are not losing fat. I think it makes it more complicated for beginers. I eat between 1600 and 1700 cals and am losing 2-3 lbs a week. MFP originally told me to eat 1200 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I would def up the calories or try to figure out how to track your exercise calories accurately and eat them back.
    Log your food, log your exercise, it tells you how much to eat. How is that complicated?
  • apatt130
    apatt130 Posts: 1
    Options
    if you're hungry you're probably not fillin yourself with the proper fuel, in order to lose weight none of us should ever "starve" true you have to watch what you eat and the key i've learned is to think "is the 200 cal. bar going to fill me up or would something with more fiber and protein with the same cal. do the trick" --you can have food, just choose what will fill you up til you 're next meal. personally i have to eat at least 6 times a day, all small meals of course but it keeps my body fueled whle at the same time making me aware of what i choose.
  • cnmince
    cnmince Posts: 20 Member
    Options
    1. Make sure you're eating enough protein throughout the day.
    2. Make sure you are drinking water throughout the day. Water. Not tea, not coffee, not diet soda...

    :)
    HTH! Good luck!
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
    Options
    I have lost 111.4lbs over the course of the past year. I only want to lose another 20-30lbs more.... but I have always eaten 1500-2000 calories (and now at a lower weight, I am at the higher end of that and typically eat 1800-2000 calories a day).... 1200 isn't enough for most people, and it's not healthy, especially if you're exercising.
  • KatKatatrophic
    KatKatatrophic Posts: 448 Member
    Options
    Sorry - but MFP recommends EVERYONE have 1200 calories if they want to lose 1 pound or 2 pounds a week. I was put on the same thing. Do not follow MFP's calorie intake, because 1) It makes 99% of MFP community hungry 2) It's not even correct, TBH.
    And when you put in a new intake, you know how it says "Your projected weight loss is: such-and-such number"? That's wrong also. I'm at 1500 calories, I set myself up on that, and I'm losing weight. You don't need to starve to lose weight - and this is from a recovering EDNOS.
  • lkidgell17
    lkidgell17 Posts: 10
    Options
    thanks everyone! i think im going to up my cals to about 1800-2000 for now and see how it goes. i almost feel like if i dont eat more, that im going to not want to do this at all and i'll stop. but thanks to everyones input i know that upping my cals is ok and i feel so much better about it :)
  • Saiklor
    Saiklor Posts: 183
    Options
    Would it be possible for you to retroactively guess at how many calories you were eating previously? I mean write down everything you ate in a day from BEFORE you started dieting and then figure out the fat and calories and stuff? Then, take those numbers, and pick a number lower than them!
  • hockeyjen85
    hockeyjen85 Posts: 6
    Options
    Apparently you are suppose to eat back your exercise calories because MFP estimates the calories way too low. I have seen so many people on here that are either starving themselves because they dont know this or that miscalculate their exercise calories too end up eating way over what they should be and wonder why they are not losing fat. I think it makes it more complicated for beginers. I eat between 1600 and 1700 cals and am losing 2-3 lbs a week. MFP originally told me to eat 1200 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I would def up the calories or try to figure out how to track your exercise calories accurately and eat them back.
    Log your food, log your exercise, it tells you how much to eat. How is that complicated?

    It is complicated because unless you are doing steady state cardio low intensity weight training it is impossible to know how many calories you are actually burning during your workout and the afterburn effect. I do heavy strength training and there is no way i would be able to know ACCURATELY how many calories i am burning. If you figure out a way please let me know.
  • lkidgell17
    lkidgell17 Posts: 10
    Options
    Would it be possible for you to retroactively guess at how many calories you were eating previously? I mean write down everything you ate in a day from BEFORE you started dieting and then figure out the fat and calories and stuff? Then, take those numbers, and pick a number lower than them!

    omg i think i was eating at least 3000 cals a day? maybe more... its terrible i know... and i know its not an excuse, but my fiancee and i live together and he's a super picky eater. and so whatever he eats is usually what i eat. and its far far far from anything healthy. but he stays at 165 lbs and i got huge lol. before we moved in together i was healthy and i was a bit over weight, but still healthy looking. i put on all my weight since we moved in together. about 45 lbs in 10 months. i know i can get it off, its just going to be so much harder than it was to put on haha
  • Saiklor
    Saiklor Posts: 183
    Options
    Are you saying 3000 because it sounds big or did you actually work it out based off of a couple of average days of food intake? (you answered so fast! that's why I ask....)
  • twiztc
    twiztc Posts: 135
    Options
    on my days off i find it easy to stay at 1200 and i sometimes have that warning that i havent had enough. when im at work i get so hungry and find it very hard to stay in my calorie allowance and find im always hungry even though i try to make sure half my meal is almost empty calories with lots of mushrooms and veg. my carbs are cut in half, where i would easily eat half cup of rice or pasta i now used brown or whole meal/grain and only quarter cup. if i used to have 2 slices of bread i now have 1 or none. i rarely eat potatoes anymore. i fill myself up with broccoli and such but still find in the late evening im soo bloody hungry my belly feels its turning inside out. i dont like water...it gives me heartburn but i drink lots of teas and i have cut down from 2 sugars to one. i tried cutting the sugar all together but i just dont like it. i dont like milk or have it in anything except just a teaspoon or two to dampen my cereals when i have it for breakfast. i finding it so hard to loose much weight even on just the 1200 allotted and have been doing this for 3 months and i think the only reason i lost only 4 pounds so far is coz i was really sick for a week and couldnt eat anything. it can be a bit disheartening
  • lkidgell17
    lkidgell17 Posts: 10
    Options
    oh and i guess i should add that im on the jenny craig program... so i know what im eating is healthy and its all pre packaged. so every time i eat i know exactly what im taking in. plus im adding in some of my own salads and fruits so im not totally relying on the program. i want to learn to be healthy on my own too.
  • lkidgell17
    lkidgell17 Posts: 10
    Options
    Are you saying 3000 because it sounds big or did you actually work it out based off of a couple of average days of food intake? (you answered so fast! that's why I ask....)

    im guessing it at 3000 because i know it had to be at least that. its probably even more some days. we eat out almost every single meal. usually mc d's or other fast foods (bec thats all he eats) so even if my cals arent that high, i know fat and sodium are really high.
  • Anna800
    Anna800 Posts: 637 Member
    Options
    I went to a nutritionist once and she told me to lose weight I could either eat 1200 calories a day or eat 1500 calories a day and exercise 300 of those off. That is how MFP operates, if you don't want to exercise, you only get 1200 calories a day so you have to be super careful. If you can't survive on that, then you have to exercise. I burn between 700-1200 calories a day in exercise so I can eat more.
  • Tribbey143
    Tribbey143 Posts: 388 Member
    Options
    ok, so im just getting started and mfp has me on 1200 cals a day. but i feel like im starving if thats all i eat. is this normal in the beginning? should i start out with a little more cals then that and work down to 1200 or just stay constant at the 1200? im really motivated to lose the weight, so ifi have to fight through the hunger for a bit i totally will. im just wondering if this is a normal thing and what everyone thinks. thanks!

    I started off the same way I didn't know and I've upped my cals to 1,500 and it's helped! move it up if your hungry!

Categories